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In certain businesses, I would say 10 failures to one…

“In certain businesses, I would say 10 failures to one success is a perfectly acceptable ratio. Because the failures die pretty quickly, they're not that expensive, and the successes can be really huge.” quote by Tim Harford
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“In certain businesses, I would say 10 failures to one success is a perfectly acceptable ratio. Because the failures die pretty quickly, they're not that expensive, and the successes can be really huge.”

Tim Harford

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

High failure rates can be acceptable when each failure is cheap and a rare success yields huge returns.

In simple terms: Many cheap failures are okay if a big win follows.

Key Takeaway

Embrace cheap experiments, aim for big wins.

Themes

risk innovation entrepreneurship

Mood

pragmatic analytical

Type

business strategy

When to use this quote

  • startup funding
  • product development
  • R&D
  • marketing campaigns

Key Concepts

cost‑benefit analysis failure tolerance

Questions to Reflect On

  • How can you keep failures cheap?
  • What metrics identify a “huge” success?
A Different Perspective

If failures become costly, the ratio becomes unsustainable.

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